On this day in pro wrestling history (July 15): Brock Lesnar stripped of IWGP title, CZW vs. ROH
By Brian Hoops, WrestlingObserver.com
1932 – At the International Arena in Kansas City, Missouri; Jack London beat John Mosier to win the Missouri Valley heavyweight title.
1942 – Gene Bowman defeated Earl Wampler for the Iowa Heavyweight Title in Des Moines, Iowa in 2 out of 3 falls. Also on the card, Babe Zaharias defeated Cowboy Luttrall in 2 of 3 falls and Jack Kennedy and Tom Zaharias went to a draw.
1946 – Danny Dusek defeated Joe Savoldi to win the Rocky Mountain Heavyweight Title in Denver, Colorado.
1949 – Tom Mahoney defeated Al Massey in a tournament final for the vacant Georgia Southern Heavyweight Title in Atlanta, Georgia.
1954 – Eddie Gossett (Eddie Graham) defeated Frankie Talaber to win the Midwest Wrestling Association World Junior Heavyweight Title in Columbus, Ohio
1955 – At Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri for promoter Sam Muchnick; NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz vs. Leo Nomellini, Bill Longson, Bobby Managoff and Pat O’Connor vs. Ike Eakins, Hard Boiled Haggerty and Don Leo Jonathan, Bobo Brazil vs. Jim “Black Panther” Mitchell, Bobby Bruns vs. Ray Villmer and “Silent” George Hubert vs. Joe Millich
1959 – The Mighty Yankee (Ray Villmer) defeated Papa Pasquale for the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title in Mobile, Alabama.
1960 – Tony Borne and Danny McShain defeated El Gladiador and Torbellino Blanco in Houston, Texas. to win the vacant NWA Texas Tag Team Title; Billy Joyce defeated Dennis Mitchell for the British Heavyweight Title in Bradford, England
1963 – Bobo Brazil defeated Johnny Barend to win the WWWF United States Heavyweight Champion in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Dick the Bruiser defeated Curtis Iaukea to win the Hawaii NWA United States Heavyweight Title
1965 – Giant Baba and Toyonobori defeated The Destroyer and Billy Red Lyons for the JWA All-Asia Tag Team Title in Shizuoka, Japan; In Kansas City, Kansas; Bob Geigel and Killer Kox beat Bobo Brazil and Dick the Bruiser 2 falls to 1; Mongolian Stomper beat Missouri Mauler, Pat O’Connor drew Sonny Myers and Ronnie Etchison beat Jerry Miller.
1966 – Brute Bernard and Skull Murphy defeated Mark Lewin and Dominic DeNucci to win the International Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Title in Sydney, Australia.
1967 – Nebraska Heavyweight Champion Bob Orton, Sr. defeated Doug Gilbert in Omaha, Nebraska to become the first AWA Midwest Heavyweight Champion. The title was unified with the Nebraska title; Dick the Bruiser and The Crusher defeated The Devil’s Duo (Chris Markoff and Angelo Poffo) for the World Wrestling Association World Tag Team Title in Indianapolis, Indiana
1970 – Pantera Negra and Tony Rocco defeated The Great Kojika and John Tolos to win the NWA Americas Tag Team Title in Los Angeles, California
1971 – Dan Miller defeated The Missouri Mauler for the NWA Eastern States Heavyweight Title in Greensboro, North Carolina.
1972 – Don and Ron Wright defeated Tommy Gilbert and Sputnik Monroe to win the NWA Tennessee Tag Team Title in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Frank Rodriguez defeated Bobby Pics to win the West Virginia Heavyweight Title.
1975 – Al Madril defeated John Toloes for the NWA Texas Heavyweight Title in Dallas, Texas
1976 – In Kansas City; Omar Atlas defeated Hubert Gallant, Bob Geigel defeated Tank Patton, Black Gordman & Great Goliath defeated Pat O’Connor & Harley Race and The Super Intern defeated Bob Brown; Bob Kelly won the NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Title by defeating Sweet Daddy Banks in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
1977 – Ernie Ladd defeated Dusty Rhodes to win the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title in Tallahassee, Florida; In Minneapolis, MN; Billy Robinson & Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Nick Bockwinkel & Blackjack Lanza & Bobby Heenan, Angelo Mosca beat Larry Hennig by dq, Pedro Morales beat Roger Kirby and Super Destroyer beat Jan Nelson; Tiger Jeet Singh and Umanosuke Ueda defeated Strong Kobayashi and Seiji Sakaguchi for the NJPW Asia Tag Team Title in Sapporo, Japan; Johnny Eagles defeated The Blue Yankee to win the NWA Alabama Heavyweight Title in Dothan, Alabama.
1978 – Otto Wanz defeated Don Leo Jonathan in Graz, Austria to become the first two-time Catch Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Champion; Armand Hussein defeated Invader I for the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Title in Caguas, Puerto Rico. At the same show, Kendo Kimura defeated Carlos Colón to win the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Title
1979 – In Minneapolis, MN; Greg Gagne beat AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel by dq, in a Taped Fist Match, Ray Stevens beat Mad Dog Vachon dq, in a Dead Lift Contest, Paul Ellering beat Jesse Ventura, Stan Hansen & Bobby Duncum beat Billy Robinson & Doug Gilbert and Super Destroyer Mark II beat Doug Gilbert
1980 – Animal Hamaguchi and Mighty Inoue defeated Haruka Eigen and Strong Kobayashi to win the International Pro Wrestling World Tag Team Title in Fuji, Japan
1982 – Rocky Johnson defeated Rip Oliver for the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Title.
1983 – Ric Flair defeated David Von Erich to win the vacant NWA Missouri Heavyweight Title in the finals of a 20 man tournament in St. Louis, Missouri, In Denver, Colorado; Greg Gagne & Jim Brunzell beat Tully Blanchard & Bobby Jaggers, in a Lumberjack Match Wahoo McDaniel beat Bobby Heenan, Rick Martel beat David Shults and Mr. Saito beat Buck Zumhofe
1984 – In the St. Paul Civic Center; AWA Champion Rick Martel beat Nick Bockwinkel, Jim Brunzell beat King Kong Brody by dq, The Crusher beat Abdullah The Butcher by dq, Fabulous Ones beat Mr. Saito & Larry Zbyszko, Road Warriors beat Steve O & Curt Hennig, Tony Atlas beat Steve Regal and Billy Robinson beat Chris Markoff. Attendance was 8,500
1985 – Terry Taylor defeated Phil Hickerson to win the CWA/AWA International Heavyweight Title in Memphis, Tennessee and Jerry Lawler defeated Rick Link to win the NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title; Iceman Parsons defeated Killer Tim Brooks for the World Class Television Title in Fort Worth, Texas; Bill Ash defeated Scott Armstrong for the Southeast NWA United States Junior Heavyweight Title in Birmingham, Alabama; In Verdun, Quebec, Canada; Jimmy Garvin & Ronnie Garvin beat Raymond Rougeau & Jacques Rougeau Jr, Tonga Kid & Tony Parisi beat AWA Tag Team Champions Road Warriors and King Tonga beat Butch Reed.
1986 – Ron Bass defeated Kendall Windham to win the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title in Tampa, Florida.
1989 – Ivan Koloff defeated Invader I for the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Title in Caguas, Puerto Rico
1990 – Astro de Oro defeated Dr. Wagner, Jr. to win the UWA World Junior Heavyweight Title in Mexico City, Mexico
1991 – Robert Fuller and Jeff Jarrett won the USWA Tag Team Title, defeating The Barroom Brawlers (Bonecrusher and Crowbar) in Memphis, Tennessee.
1992 – Sakie Hasegawa defeated Mariko Yoshida to win the AJW Singles Title in Tokyo, Japan.
1994 – Eddie Golden and Alex Shane defeated The Tennessee Equalizer and Chic White for the Southern States Wrestling Tag Team Title in Fall Branch, Tennessee
1996 – Brickhouse Brown and Reggie B. Fine defeated Flex Kavana (The Rock) and Bart Sawyer for the USWA Tag Team Title in Memphis, Tennessee
1998 – Shiro Koshinaka and Genichiro Tenryu defeated Masahiro Chono and Hiroyoshi Tenzan in Tokyo, Japan for the IWGP Tag Team Title
2005 – Christopher Daniels defeated Natural Heavyweight Champion A.J. Styles in a best-of-three falls match to win the title in Buffalo, New York.
2006 – Brock Lesnar is stripped of the IWGP Heavyweight Title by New Japan Pro Wrestling. Lesnar and New Japan management had a disagreement regarding a defense against Hiroshi Tanahashi, scheduled to take place on July 17, resulting in Lesnar quitting the promotion; In Philadelphia, PA; ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson defeated Sonjay Dutt to retain the title and Team ROH (ROH World Champion Bryan Danielson, Homicide, Adam Pearce, Samoa Joe, Ace Steel and B.J. Whitmer (with J.J. Dillon)) defeated Team CZW (Claudio Castagnoli, CZW World Heavyweight Champion Chris Hero, CZW World Tag Team Champion Eddie Kingston, Necro Butcher and Nate Webb) in a Cage of Death match.
2007 – In Orlando, Florida; TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle and TNA X Division Champion Samoa Joe defeated TNA World Tag Team Champions Team 3D (Brother Ray and Brother Devon). The rules stated that whoever got a pin won that person’s title, so Samoa Joe won the TNA World Tag Team Title.